The Catalyst
by LunarLotus123
Summary: Sarah Stark is the younger sister of the billionaire Tony Stark as well as a scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D., like her brother though, she too is a vigilante. She has a daughter as well, Christie Stark, but the father is soon to be a threat to humanity. A story of betrayal, rekindled romance, and of course, hardcore ass kickings. BannerxOC
1. Chapter 1

"Tony, I know you're busy, but all I'm asking is for Pepper to watch Christie while I finish up my lab work this weekend."  
Standing in the kitchen of a three bedroom house that resided in rural New York was a five foot 11 woman with mid length brown hair and greenish brown eyes, a blue tooth on her right ear and a pot of macaroni and cheese in front of her on the stove.

"Sarah, I know what you're asking but I told you," Tony explained as he puttered around, playing with blue prints of his Iron Man suit on his touch screens, "Pepper and I are busy. Why can't your boyfriend watch her?"

Sarah hesitated hearing her brother, then let out a sigh, "Banner and I split up six months ago, thanks for noticing."

Tony listened to the awkward silence, then chuckled, "What's wrong? He get out of hand?"

"No. . . He found out I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. when I'm not being a vigilante. Also," the brown-haired woman said setting two bowls on the oak table in the center of the kitchen, "Did you ever get those blueprints I sent you? The ones I asked you to look over? My suits been having issues lately and I might need it sooner than I thought. Christie! Dinner!"

In the background, Tony could hear his niece hurrying down the stairs, "I can point out the biggest flaw without even looking at the blueprints. You haven't been maintaining the arc reactor in it have you?"

"I have taken better care of it than you think," Sarah said as she turned to her daughter and smiled, "Well, I have to go but talk to Pepper...PLEASE. I need to know by tomorrow cause I leave tomorrow night."

Tony knew arguing at this point was useless, so he gave in, "I'll talk to her. But don't start driving over as soon as the phone rings."

"Thanks bro. Talk to you soon," the young woman said hanging up and turning to Christie, "I hope you're hungry kiddo."

Christie was seven years old, but the strange thing was, she looked nothing like her mother.

Unlike her mother, Christie's hair was black and straight, reaching her shoulders, her eyes were a bright green almost like an emerald, and her skin was a very pale ivory.

Though Sarah never told anyone, Christie was the product of a night out gone very wrong. She had been out with some friends having fun and ran into a typical talk dark handsome man at one of the bars. She didn't remember anything before it got ou of control, but Sarah remembered VERY well what happened afterwards. After a few drinks Sarah had bid the stranger goodbye and left. He had followed her though, all the way to her apartment she had at the time. She had just gotten out of the shower when she saw him on her couch. Despite her telling him to leave, he seemed determined. After a moment, Sarah lost control of herself and surrendered her body to this man. Once he left, she had never seen him again. Not long after, the young woman found out she was pregnant.

"Mommy? Mommy!"

Sarah snapped out of her daze and noticed she was just staring off into space, "Sorry honey. Work is starting to get the best of me. What do you want to drink?"

Christie watched her mom go to the fridge, a look of worry on her face, "I just want water mom. Thanks."

Sarah nodded and took a small glass from the cupboard before going to the tap.

As she got there though, Sarah noticed something outside, something not right.

"Mo-"

"CHRISTIE! GET DOWN!" Sarah snapped dropping the glass, and grabbing the nine mil she kept under the sink.

Christie watched her mom, then dove under the table before she heard gunshots.

Sarah had shot off a few rounds before ducking down below the cupboards as three times the rounds were returned.

What the hell is going on? she though before crawling under the table with Christie, "Are you alright honey?"

Christie simply managed a nod before covering her ears at the sound of more gunshots.

The worried mother swore under her breath before grabbing Christie by her arm and hurrying out from under the table and making a break for the rooms upstairs.

Just as they reached the doorway separating the kitchen from the rest of the house, Sarah felt something pin her down, halting her in her steps.

"Mommy! Come on!" Christie begged, stopping half way up the stairs.

"Christie! Go upstairs and hide! Don't come down until I tell you!" Sarah snapped glancing at her shoulder.

Seeing what had stopped her though, Sarah felt her heart drop, "No...not him."

Pulling an arrow out of her shoulder, Sarah confirmed her fears, the tip matched that of Agent Hawkeye of S.H.E.I.L.D., the agencies bet sharpshooter.

She tossed the arrow away and hurried to the hallway closet.

Once there, she threw open the door in a frenzy and grabbed a SMG as well as a combat knife.

She turned around just in time to see her back door getting kicked in, damaging the kitchen tile as it hit, and several S.H.E.I.L.D members rushing in.

Sarah could only stare in shock for a moment before snapping to reality, "What the hell is wrong with you guys!"

Just before she began firing though, a figure entered that all but stopped the brown-haired woman's heart, "It's you..."

Standing there was a man wearing a gold, black and green outfit that seemed like something from a science fiction movie out of the 50's, short black hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to peer into her soul, "It's been a while. How's my daughter?"

Sarah couldn't bring herself to answer the man standing before her, but the grip she had on her knife had tightened enough for the hilt to actually cut into her hand.

"What's wrong? Are you not happy to see me after...seven years?"

"You bastard," Sarah muttered under her breath, "What have you done to these men? And where is Hawkeye?"

Answering her second question, the blond man came up behind Sarah Stark and knocked the gun away, grabbed her hand holding the combat knife and pinning it behind her while forcing her to her knees with his own knife at her throat, "Watch how you speak to Loki."

"Hawkeye...what happened to you?" Sarah managed to ask, trying to use her free hand to keep his knife from slitting her throat.

"What's happened Sarah Stark," Loki said revealing a golden staff with a blue glowing object framed in the head, "I have freed these men from themselves. I have released them from their greatest weakness. How would you like to join them?"

Sarah felt Hawkeye's grip tighten, causing her breathing to become a bit heavier and panicked.

Before she could say anything, she heard a familiar voice from upstairs, "Mommy? Are you ok?"

"Christie! Run!" Sarah called out before crying in pain.

Loki had already noticed the child though and had teleported behind her, "Hm, she has my eyes, don't you think Sarah?"

Knowing that Loki was inches from her daughter caused Sarah to try to break free from Hawkeye's grasp, ignoring that he could kill her if he wanted.

"Christie was it?" Loki asked smiling fiendishly at the little girl.

Christie shrank away, trembling as she stepped back.

Hawkeye managed to tighten his grip on Sarah, but he tried to shift and lost his grip enough for the woman to break free and knock him away.

Sarah kicked Hawkeye before hurrying up the stairs, her knife aimed for Loki's throat.

Loki saw her coming and grabbed Christie by the hair, yanking her in between his assailant and his self, "Is that such a good idea?"

Sarah managed to stop herself, the blood from her hand dripping onto the floor while her shoulder wound bled out profusely onto her light purple tee-shirt.

"That's better. Now then," Loki said standing up, keeping a firm grip on his daughters black hair, "You have two choices. Join me by choice...and she lives, or you join me by force and she dies."

Christie let out a frightened whimper as the cold metal of Loki's scepter brushed her neck.

Sarah felt herself being torn in two, but soon dropped her knife and let the tension leave her body.

"Smart choice," Loki said pushing Christie to the side and walking towards the helpless woman, "Don't worry. You'll be at peace very soon."

As he lifted his scepter though, Sarah grabbed it and used it to knock Loki over the bannister to the floor below.

She then took the opportunity to use the confusion to escape with her daughter.

After grabbing Christie, Sarah ran to the window at the end of the hall facing the top of the staircase and leapt out, clinging her daughter to her chest.

Loki managed to regain himself, and get outside just in time to see Sarah's convertible fading into the darkness.

"Sir, she won't get far with that wound. The poison should take effect in about two hours. She can't make it to S.H.E.I.L.D before then," Hawkeye explained stepping outside with Loki.

"It does not matter. She is not crucial. We can continue without her," Loki said trying to hold his anger back.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, in her car, Sarah was trying to get ahold of Tony as they sped towards Stark Tower in the center of New York City, "Come one, pick up the damned phone..."

Christie just sat in the passenger seat, her knees pulled to her chest and tears streaming down her cheeks.

While she waited for an answer, Sarah took one hand off of the steering wheel and gently patted her daughters shoulder, "It's okay honey. We'll be safe now."  
"Stark En-"

"Tony! We need help! Some nutjob turned some S.H.I.E.L.D. members against us and they are trying to kill Christie and me," Sarah said frantically as she turned down Main St and kept going.

"Are you sure this isn't you over reacting?" Tony asked sarcasticaly.

"No I'm not...I was shot with an arrow. I think it had something in it...I'm feeling pretty groggy," Sarah said forcing herself to stay foccused.

"Alright. As long as they're not following you. The codes are the same. And one of your friends is her. Coulson."

"Tell him I quit," Sarah said jokingly before hanging up.

"Mommy, are you going to be okay?" Christie asked looking up at her mother with a frightened look in her eyes.

"I'll be alright sweety. We have to get to Uncle Tony's though..." Sarah said rounding a corner.

Luckily, right ahead of them was Stark Tower, glowing like a beacon at the end of time.

Sarah parked hastily, ignoring the parking meter, grabbed Christie and the nine mil from her glove box, then hurried to the stairs to the elavator.

"I thought the Avengers Initiative was tossed out. Besides, I don't play well with others," Tony said looking over a file Agent Coulson had given him.

"It's not about psyche evaluations anymore. The Tesseract was stolen yesterday and we need you and the others to retrieve it and save the world," the semi-balding man said setting a champagne glass down beside Pepper.

Just as Tony was about to interject, the familiar voice of JARVIS rang out, "Sir, your sister and her daughter just reached the top floor."

Tony thanked the computer and walked over to greet them only to recieve a shock.

"Uncle Tony! Help mommy! She colapsed and is bleeding!" Christie cried running up and grabbing her uncle by the hand and trying to pull him over.

Pepper hurried over and pulled Christie back a bit while Tony and Coulson went over to check on Rebbeca.

"This doesn't look good. We need to get her to the base," Coulson said checking her pulse.

Tony looked her over, then started to pick her up, "I got this. We can stabalize her. Until we know what's in her bloodstream though, we can't cure her."

Coulsan helped Tony carry his sister to a table and lay her out.

Pepper was speechless at what was going on, but sat down with Christie on her lap and tried to comfort her neice.

Tony left the room for a moment and came back with a box marked with the S.H.E.I.L.D logo on the front, then set it down on the table.

"Where did you get that!? Tha-"

"Classified I know," Tony said taking a syringe out as well as a phial of clear green liquid, "I don't follow the rules and you know that."

Coulson knew he couldn't fight Tony, so he just let the scientist do his thing.

Tony filled the syring up and quickly injected it into his sisters arm while the agent across the table monitored her pulse.

There was a thick silence as they waited for Sarah to respond.

About ten seconds later, Sarah gasped deeply for air, her spine curving up a bit as the pain from the poison continued to wrack her body.

"Glad you're back sis. Now don't say anything, we're leaving for the base. Pepper will watch your kid. Let me just suit up," Tony said hurrying over to his wall of armor and getting his Iron Man armor on.

Sarah was in too much pain to say much, but she felt Christie grab her hand, "Mommy...remember, you promised me you'd be okay. Please don't break that promise..."

Hearing her daughters words, Sarah simply nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Before anything else could be said though, Tony scooped up his sister and looked at the group, "She won't die, I won't let her. She still owes me a five hundred dollar bet."

With that, the Stark siblings were off to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

* * *

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

_Her bp is dropping..._

_We have to stop the bleeding..._

_She's...can't stop..._

Silence.

All Sarah heard was silence, all she could see was darkness, _Am I dead...Is this what death is like?_

It wasn't until she slowly started to regain conciousness that she knew she wasn't dead.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," a familiar voice called out as she started to clear her vision.

"Please tell me I'm dead and this is hell," she muttered once she recognized the logos that labeled the equipment around the room.

"I didn't know we were on those terms."

Sarah forced herself up and saw none other than her ex-boyfriend, Bruce Banner, standing beside her bed with her medical chart in his hands.

"It's not you...it's this place...are we still on the water at least?" Sarah asked trying to sit up straight.

"No. We took flight a couple of hours ago," Bruce said helping her to sit up on the hospital bed, "Seems like Loki did a number on you."

"Don't even mention that bastard..." Sarah hissed as she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, "If I see him, I'll kill him myself."

"I see. How's Christie by the way? She just turned seven right?" the doctor asked pulling a pill bottle out of the night stand beside her bed, "Here, it'll take the edge off."

"She's fine. A little disappointed though. She was looking forward to getting a card from you this year," Sarah said opening the bottle and putting one of the pills in her mouth, "Bruce...what happened to you? You just vanished off the face of the earth."

"Had to. I wanted to stay under the radar. Didn't seem to work very well though," Bruce said chuckling a bit.

"Yeah, seems like that," Sarah said getting on her feet, "You did stay off my radar though...Bruce, what happened to us?"

That question both people were hoping to avoid, but they also knew one of them would have to ask it.

"Our lives clashed. With my issues...I needed to disappear," Bruce said keeping his back to his ex.

Sarah just nodded and looked at a folded up black suit that was on the table beside her bed, "I take it black is all they have?"

"Yeah. I brought my own for that reason," Bruce replied with a chuckle, "I'll leave so you can.."

"Oh..yeah. Thanks," Sarah said, trying not to be awkward.

Once he was gone, Sarah changed out of her hospital gown into the black outfit rather quickly.

It fit her rather well, the outfit consisted of black pants, a black zip up tank top, and a pair of black zip up combat boots.

"Alright. Now then," she muttered as she made sure she could walk, "To find out what the hell is going on."

The halls were pretty deserted, making Sarah feel a bit less uncomfortable as she made her way down the hall.

"Stark!"

Sarah turned to see Nick Fury standing against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, "Nick. Could you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"In a minute. We're heading to the bridge," Nick explained walking over to her and leading the Stark woman down the hall, "We're tracking Loki down while Banner is looking for the Tesseract."

"Is that so? I take it the underground lab is gone?" Sarah asked looking concerned, "All my research was there...unless Tony took it behind my back which is entirely possible. Speaking of which, where is my brother?"

"He dropped you off at the airport where we had a plane waiting. He refused to come along though," Fury explained opening the door that led to the bridge, "That's why we'll need you. Considering that both you and Tony have almost identical suits, you can double as Banner's research partner and the muscle we need. Besides, Banner okayed you to start-up right away. As for your research, Dr. Selvig stole it before we could get to it."

"Selvig? But...he was the one helping me with it...Loki got him to. As for work, I'm sorry sir, but I'm not sure if Banner and I should be working together...We have history together that I'd rather not bring up considering we're 30,000 feet above the ground," Sarah explained as she followed Nick to the center of the bridge.

"This isn't optional, Stark. After we catch Loki, you're helping Banner with his work. Got it?"

Sarah simply nodded and walked over to one of the windows and looked down, "I take it you already grabbed my suit?"

"We managed to save it from the labs before they collapsed. It's in the hangar waiting for you," Fury said as he messed with his screens.

"That's funny...last I checked, it was in my basement at home," Sarah muttered sounding a bit unsurprised at the fact.

"Sir! We've located Loki! He's in Germany!"

Sarah heard this and turned to see Steve Rodgers, AKA Captain America, heading out one of the doors, "Alright. Guess we'd better get to work then."

* * *

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

In a hurry, Sarah ran after Steve, hoping he could show her to the hangar.

"Excuse me..."

Steve turned to see the brown-haired woman from the bridge jogging towards him, "What is it? Wait...you're Sarah Stark, right? Howard's daughter?"

"You know me? I'm flattered Captain," Sarah said walking alongside him, "I just wanted to meet you. My old man talked about you all the time when I was growing up. He mentioned that you were a pretty nice guy when it comes down to it."

"Your dad said that about me? Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Steve said with a sigh, "So, what's your specialty? I'm guessing something tech wise..."

"I'm Iron Woman. I know the name is kind cheesy," Sarah said chuckling a bit, "My daughter came up with it. l couldn't say no. "

"You have a kid?" Steve asked looking a bit surprised.

"Yeah. Freaks like us can have lives too," Sarah said as they came up to the hangar.

"With the way the world is now, that doesn't surprise me," the captain said holding the door open for her, "We should hurry before Loki gets out of hand."

Sarah nodded and walked over to her suit that was perched up against the east wall.

Her suit was a lot like her brothers save for the fact that unlike Tony's her arc reactor was built into the suit, she didn't have the convenience of having JARVIS programmed in and her color scheme was purple and silver.

"Hello Sarah," Natasha said walking over to her, "How's your shoulder?"

"Stiff, but it should be alright. How are you holding up?"

The Russian woman glanced away before she felt Sarah's hand on her shoulder.

"It's not his fault. It's Loki. We'll find him and bring him back to us," the brown-haired woman said smiling a little.

"Can you promise that? After what he's done-"

Sarah cut Natasha off and became serious, "We'll save him, S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't leave anyone behind."

Natasha nodded and started towards the jet where Captain America was waiting for her while Sarah began to examine her suit.

Sarah looked it over, then pressed a button on the frame holding said suit up causing it to open up, "Let's get this party started..."

The suit whirred and clicked until it was sealed up around the female Stark's frame, leaving no flesh exposed.

A computerized voice started confirming that all systems were operational and ready to go.

"Alright...time to stir things up," Sarah said staring up her thrusters and flying out of the hangar door as the jet the captain and Natasha were taking off as well.

* * *

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

"I said, KNEEL!"

Loki stood before a crowd of the German people, his outfit now a suit of gold armor, his helmet had two large horns curving up from the base in front of his forehead.

As the crowd knelt down, Loki smiled victoriously, "Isn't this better? This is your natural state! Your species needs to be ruled. I'm here to show you what you're meant to be."

As he finished his speech, an old man stood back up with a defiant look on his face, "We are not meant to be controlled, not by a man like you."

"There are no men like me," Loki said growing a bit irate.

"There will always be men like you," the old man said, holding his ground as Loki walked a bit closer to him.

"Look to your elder people! Let him be an example," Loki said aiming his staff at the man, the tip glowing brighter.

Just as he let off the charge, it was deflected by none other than Captain America.

Loki was thrown back as the charge came back at him.

"I knew a guy like you a while back. He stood there," Captain America said standing up as the crowd quickly dispersed, "We didn't share the same ideals."

Just behind Loki, Iron Woman AKA Sarah Stark, landed and made sure he couldn't run, "Can't say I'm too fond of the idea of you ruling over humanity. You're too much of a whiny bitch for that."

Loki stood up and saw a jet hovering above the streets, its gun trained on him and smirked.

Inside, Natasha was working the controls and opened the P.A., "Drop the spear Loki. There's no way out."

The Asgardian just laughed and shot a charge at the jet, just barely missing the wing as Natasha veered away.

Captain America hurried in to attack, his shield firmly in his grasp as he swung hard at Loki.

The god was able to counter each of his attacks with some ease before knocking him back.

Sarah stepped in and went to blast him with a bolt from her reactor, only to be blasted back into the marble wall by Loki's scepter.

"You fools! There is nothing you can do to stop me!" Loki cried in anger and triumph.

Just as the group began to regain itself, AC/DC began playing on the jets sound system.

Sarah chuckled and stood up, "Dammit Tony...you choose the worst times to be late."

"Hey what can I say? I like style," Tony said before landing in front of Loki and firing a charge off at him.

The blast hit him square in the chest, knocking the tyrant to the ground.

Tony then stood over him, all weapons trained on him.

Loki raised his arms in surrender as his armor dissipated.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Tony said disarming his weapons.

Sarah grabbed the scepter as Captain America walked over beside Iron Man, "Mr. Stark."

Tony glanced over briefly and nodded at him, "Captain."

* * *

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah stood beside the doorway that divided the cockpit from the rest of the plane, her gaze never breaking from the demi-god sitting bound to the farthest seat along the left wall of the jet.

"This doesn't seem right. It shouldn't have been this easy," Steve said looking uneasily at Loki.

"What? You not used to the enemy just giving up like that?" Tony asked a tad bit sarcastically.

"It's never that easy," Steve said before bracing himself while the jet hit some turbulence.

"The hell? Where did this come from?" Sarah asked as she grabbed onto the wall behind her.

Loki was looking around nervously as the lightning continued to strike.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little lightning?" Tony asked smirking a little.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," the dark haired demi-god said tensing up a little.

As everone held on, a loud thump was hear on the outside of the jet.

Sarah made her way over to the hatch and opened it, hoping to see what ad made that noise.

Once the hatch was fully open, a blond man wearing a red cape and silver armor, wielding a hammer appeared before them.

Before anyone could ask what was happening, the man grabbed Loki, breaking his bonds, and flew back out the hatch.

"What he hell just happened?" Steve asked as Tony grabbed his mask and headed for the hatch.

"Is he a friendly?" Natasha asked trying to get the jet back into a stable rhythm.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him the Tesseract is lost," Tony explained looking back at them.

"Wait! We need a plan of attack!" Steve barked as Tony prepared to follow the two.

"I have a plan: Attack!" Tony replied before flying after the two.

"Sorry about him. He's always been an idiot," Sarah said putting her mask back on and following her brother.

Steve became frustrated and grabbed a parachute.

"I wouldn't recommend that captain! These guys come from legend! They're basically gods!" Natasha explained glancing back at him.

"There's only one god ma'am. And I'm sure he doesn't dress like that," the soldier said before diving out of the open hatch.

Meanwhile, Sarah had barely been able to keep up with Tony up until he caught up to Loki and the mysterious blond man.

The two were standing on a plateau above a rather dense forest, and it looked like the blond man was ready to knock Loki out at a moments notice.

Tony took it upon himself to separate the new guy from Loki, taking him into the forest below.

Seeing as how Loki was left alone though, Sarah decided to take care of him.

"So...alone at last," Loki said as he watched Sarah land in front of him.

"Shut your damned mouth. If Fury didn't want you alive, I would kill you right here," Sarah snapped trying to restrain herself from attacking him.

"Why? You know Christie is going to ask about what happened all those years ago at some point in time...You can't run from the truth forever," the dark haired man hissed as he watched Sarah growing angrier by the second.

That last comment caused the younger Stark to snap.

Loki was about to say something else when he felt Sarah grab the collar of his coat, "Oh? Did I strike a nerve?"

"Christie will never know. If it kills me...she will never know about you," Sarah snapped throwing Loki back into the rock behind him.

Winded, Loki forced himself back up, "Is that so?"

"Quit pushing your luck," Sarah said clenching her fists.

Just before she could strike another blow, a large blast came from the forest below, leveling about a one mile radius of the foliage there.

"It would seem my brother has met your companions," Loki commented standing back up.

Sarah just glanced at Loki before grabbing him by the arm and taking him back to the jet.

* * *

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

Once back aboard the flying aircraft carrier, the captive demi-god was placed in the detention center while the group made their way to the conference room.

Bruce was already there with Nick, a video display of the detention center on a screen in the center of the table.

The newcomer that had abrubtly made an appearance introduced himself as Thor, brother of Loki.

"So...does insanity run in your family?" Sarah asked flipping through the file once more.

"Do no insult us like that! Loki may be odd, but he does have determination. Whatever he's planning, it will not be good," Thor said pacing a little.

"Talk about a bag of cats," Bruce muttered watching the video, "And he just gave up?"

"Watch what you say!" Thor snapped, "He is my brother!"

"He killed 85 people," Natasha said looking from the video to the blond man.

"He's adopted."

Sarah watched as the group began talking and started to leave.

Unfortunately, Tony came in and kept her from leaving, "Where're you going sis?"

"I WAS going back to work," Sarah said attempting to step past him.

"But then you'll miss my amazing epiphanies and genius. I do have a question though. I noticed on the jet that Christie looks an awful lot like the nut job on lock down right now. Something you wanna tell us?" Tony asked stepping in front of her and crossing his arms.

Sarah did her best to keep calm, but snapped and pulled back, socking Tony in the gut.

Before anyone could say anything, Sarah had stormed off to the lab.

"You really know how to make everyone like you," Steve commented not moving from his seat.

* * *

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, Sarah was working on the program Bruce had set up to track the gamma radiation put off by the Tesseract, trying to push what Tony had said to the back of her mind.

"Something bothering ya?" Nick asked entering the lab.

"With all due respect sir, I just want to get this done and go home to my daughter," Sarah said not looking away from her screen.

"About that, we brought Christie here in order to keep her safe," Fury said walking over until he was standing in front of the female Stark.

"You did what? I don't want her getting involved in any of this! What the fuck were you thinking!" Sarah snapped clenching her fists.

"We did a DNA test when you joined S.H.E.I.L.D. to ensure she was normal. After what Tony said, I had one of the doctors run it against his. It's a 99.7% match. She was already at risk, Stark," Fury said pushing the screen aside, "This is the kind of thing that could cause trouble later on."

"I didn't know back then! I swear is she gets hurt-"

"She won't. I have Phil watching her."

Sarah didn't know wether she should be grateful, or worried.

* * *

Phil was standing in the elevator, the 7 year old girl standing next to him, a VERY awkward silence hanging in the air.

After a few moments, Christie looked up at Phil, "I heard Captain America is here...can I meet him?"

"You like the Captain?"

"Yeah. My mom found me some of his old comic books...I love the old movies though. They're really cool," Christie said looking from Phil to the floor.

"I think we can work something out. For now," the half balding man said as the elevator door opened, "Let's go to your mom's room and get you settled in."

Christie smiled and hugged Phil, "Thanks!"

Phil felt awkward as the little girl embraced him, but he tried to go with it.

* * *

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Bruce and Tony had made their way back to the lab wheere Sarah was hard at work.

"And it's the raging mother! Tell me, was it really necesary to use your full strength when you decided to knock me out?" Tony asked carrying his black briefcase over to an empty desk and setting up his computer.

"Drop it," Sarah muttered pulling up a display of the globe, "Anyway, we haven't had any hits on the Tesseract yet. Wherever they are, they're doing a damn good job of keeping a low profile.

Bruce looked at the screen and sighed, "Seems like he knows what our moves are before we make them. About what Tony said-"

"I said drop it. Now then. What if-"  
"All we have to do is broaden the spectrum and increasae the scan efficiency. So, what does Fury want with the Tesseract?" Tony asked opening a bag of freeze dried blueberries.

"I don't know and I REALLY don't care. It's like I told Fury. I just wanna finish this and go home," Sarah said as she continued to read the output on the screen.

"I see...Well, I think that whatever Fury has up his sleeve," Tony said picking up a small object, "It may have to do with why the underground lab collapsed or why Loki just walked into that cell."

Sarah was about to say something when she saw Tony jab Bruce in the side with the object he had picked up, "What the hell!"

"What's wrong with you? Is everything a game to you?" Steve asked walking into the lab looking frustrated.

"Don't worry Captain...I wouldn't have come if I couldn't handle sharpm pointy things," Bruce said chuckling a bit.

"Wow you really have that under control, do you do yoga? What's your secret?" Tony asked taking a blueberry out of the foil bag.

"I will not stand by as you endanger everyone on this ship," Steve snapped as he tried to keep from taking a swing at the millionaire.

"Guys, will you please just shut up for one minute?" Sarah asked growing a bit frustrated.

"I have a question. Why would a group like S.H.E.I.L.D be interested in something like free energy?" Tony asked as he pulled up some of the files he had 'borrowed' from the sytems computers.

"It seems strange. What can we do though?" Sarah asked trying to remain civil.

"It's none of our buisness," Steve replied, "And how did you get those anyway?"

"JARVIS has been running it since I was on the bridge..." Tony explained, "I'm pretty sure Banner here is curious about it too."

Everyone turned to Bruce, curiousity plaguing their minds.

"Hey, I'm not interested...I just want to finish what I'm doing and..."

"Doctor?" Steve asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.

The doctor let out a sigh, "Well, it has been on my mind, Stark Industries has finished their first self sutstaining energy source. Why would Fury be looking for something that's already in our grasp?"

The group continued talking, each moment the uncomfort in the room growing.

It became obvious to see the tension in the room was rising, the atmosphere could have been sliced with a scalpel.

As the group continued to theorize and talk, in their own special way, no one seemed to notice Phil and Christie enter the room.

"Guys...GUYS!"

Phil yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to bring some peace to the room.

"Christie!" Sarah cried eeing her daughter standing in the door way.

The child smiled and ran over hugging her mother, "I'm glad you're okay mom!"

Tony watched and chuckled, "And here I thought this moment couldn't get any sweeter."

Bruce saw the little girl and decided to try and leave the room before he was noticed.

"Bruce?"

The scientist heard his name and sighed, "Hey kiddo...it's been a while..."

Christie hurried over and began talking to him while Sarah pulled Phil to the side, "Listen, no matter what, she stays away from the detention center."

"I know. Fury informed me of the situation," Phil said keeping his voice low, "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that to her. She did hound me about meeting the Captain though."

Sarah chuckled a bit, "Yeah. She found my dads old box with the videos and such from when he was working on the project. You know...he never stopped thinking about Steve..."

"I figured as much. He and Steve hit it off pretty well by the sounds of it."

After talking to Bruce, Christie turned and saw Captain America standing right in front of her, "Oh my god! You're really him!"

Steve looked ever so confused as the little girl fawned over him, "Uh...yeah, I guess I am."

Sarah hurried over and took Christie by the shoulder, "Honey, why don't you have Phil show you the bridge? There's a nice view from there."

"Why can't you take me mommy?" Christie asked looking disappointed.

"I have to stay here and help. I promise though, when I'm all done working, I'll take you on a tour myself," Sarah said kneeling down and looking her in the eye.

Christie pouted a moment, then nodded, "Ok...but if break this one mommy I'll be mad at you."

As she left with Phil, Sarah stood up and went back to her desk.

"You alright?" Steve asked walking over to Sarah.

"I'm fine...Why do you ask?" she said fighting back a few tears.

Steve felt rather out of place at the moment and left the room, not wanting to make matters worse.

* * *

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

"What are you doing Stark!?"

Fury stormed into the lab, looking rather irate, followed by Thor.

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony stated as he was working away on his computer.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract!" Fury snapped standing face to face with the playboy.

We are! The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get the hit, we'll have a signature within half a mile," Bruce said showing Fury the model he, Tony and Sarah had created.

"In no time at all your precious cube will be back in your hands," Sarah said lighting a smoke up.

"There's no smoking in here."

"I'm sorry sir but I can't exactly go outside now can I?" Sarah snapped crossing her arms, "And YOU have some explaining to do."

Tony pulled up a file labeled classified, "What IS Phase 2?"

As if on cue, Steve walked in and dropped a strange gun on the table, "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons! Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean that we..."

Before Fury could finish his thought, Tony cut him off and pulled up the schematic of a rocket on his screen before turning it to Fury, "You were lying?"

Sarah looked shocked while Steve just looked disappointed and pissed, "I was wrong Director, the world hasn't changed a bit."

"Fury, why is MY technology inside a warhead that could theoretically annihilate a planet?" Sarah snapped taking a closer look at the blueprint.

Bruce crossed his arms and leaned against the table, "I want to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury knew he had been caught, then sighed and motioned towards Thor, "Because of him!"

Thor looked shocked and confused as he looked at the group, "Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visit from another planet that had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned. You're harness was the only way we could use the cubes energy to defend ourselves, Sarah," Fury explained.

Thor became extremely offended and stepped forward, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet!"

"But you're people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched, that can't be controlled!"

"Like you control the cube?" Steve asked.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it... and his allies. It is a signal to the Realm that Earth is ready for a higher form of war!" Thor snapped growing angrier by the moment.

"Oh please! And the Destroyer YOUR brother sent wasn't a declaration or threat to humanity!?" Sarah snapped tightening her right hand into a fist.

The group continued to argue on and on before Natasha walked in, "You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?"

Bruce chuckled to himself and shook his head, "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

Natasha stepped a bit closer, "Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing WHAT exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you."

_"_Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy."

There was a pause before Sarah stepped over, her cigarette on the ground smoldering, "Bruce...put the scepter down."

Looking down at his hand, the scientist just then realized he was holding Loki's weapon, Natasha's and Fury's hands on their guns.

"Sorry..."Banner muttered handing the scepter to Sarah who placed it back on the stand.

"We go a blip!" Tony said pushing a screen over so everyone could see.

Bruce walked over and began to map the coordinates before something about it made him go pale, "Dear god."

Before anyone could ask what was wrong, an explosion went off sending everyone to the floor as the aircraft began to descend.

* * *

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

As the group began to regather themselves, both Tony and Steve hurried to the Hangar.

Sarah looked around and noticed Natasha and Bruce were gone.

"Shit...That's not gonna be good. Oh no..."

After realizing Phil still had Christie, Sarah bolted out of the lab, hoping that he had taken her to her room.

* * *

Upon opening the door, Sarah found it empty, "Dammit!"

In a hurry, she went to a case that was at the foot of the bed and opened it.

Inside was a pair of nine millimeter's, four ammo clips and a combat knife.

After she strapped the guns to her legs and the knife to her hip, Sarah headed straight for the detention center.

* * *

"Christie, I need you to stay hidden," Phil whispered to the Stark child as he pushed her into an empty air vent.

Christie whimpered but nodded a bit, pulling her knees to her chest.

Loki at the time, had just tricked his brother into jumping into his cell, and was no gloating, "Are you ever NOT going to fall for that?"

In a fit of anger, Thor smashed his fist into the glass wall, leaving a small set of cracks.

The cage though, shook a little as it was being locked into place.

Loki paused then smirked as he went to the controls, "The humans think us immortal...shall we test that theory?"

"Nooo-"

Thor's cry was cut off by the cell falling from the ship to the ground below.

"Stop right there."

Just as Loki turned to leave, he saw Agent Coulson standing there holding a weapon that could be considered a hand held canon, "You can't defeat me."

"Oh yeah? We built this after you sent the destroyer...still a prototype, I don't even know what it does," the middle aged man explained stepping forward a bit.

Before he could pull the trigger though, Phil lost sight of the demi-god and felt the scepter pierce his flesh.

"PHIL!"

Sarah happened to show up just as Phil fell to the ground.

"Ah..If it isn't the younger genius," Loki said smirking.

"Not this time," she muttered yanking one of her guns from the holster and unloading the clip on Loki.

Much to her surprise though, Loki was unscathed.

"Hey.."

Phil called out to Loki before pulling the trigger of the gun, shooting a giant fireball into his chest, knocking Loki through the wall, "So that's what it does..."

Once Sarah was sure Loki was at least unconscious, she hurried over to the fallen comrade, "Hold on Phil...we'll get a med team down here and get you patched up."

"Don't worry about me...worry about your daughter..." Phil said motioning to the air vent he had hidden her in.

Sarah nodded and walked over, removing the grate to retrieve her daughter.

"Phil, she's not-"

"Looking for her?"

Sarah's heart sank as she looked at Loki, her unconscious daughter under his right arm, "You bastard!"

She ran over to get her daughter but fell through Loki's body, the image disappearing as Sarah looked back.

"Christie...Christie!"

Sarah hurried over to Phil, her mind wrought with the though of what Loki could be doing to her daughter, "Phil, Phil, listen to me. Stay with me."

"I'm sorry Stark...Guess I failed to keep her outta harms way," Phil muttered coughing up a bit of blood.

Fury was standing in the doorway and hurried to Phil's side, "Stay with me soldier."

"Sorry sir...looks like I'm clocking out," Phil said, his voice growing quieter.

"You know that's not an option," Fury said before watching Phil draw his last breath.

Sarah saw Phil go limp before she started storming off towards the hangar.

Fury made the announcement that Agent Coulson was dead, then followed after Sarah.

"What are you doing Stark?" Fury asked before they reached the hangar.

"I'm going to get my daughter," she snapped reloading her nine mil and making sure it wasn't jammed.

"I can't let you do that."

Sarah snapped, she spun around and raised her gun to eye level with Fury, "Who's gonna stop me?"

"I am. We lost Thor AND Banner. We can't loose you too."

"With all due respect sir...I'm more worried about the fact that THAT mad man has my daughter AND the cube! I am not going to sit around while-"

"Sarah!"

Tony hurried over and grabbed her wrist, "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Calm down dammit!"

Sarah cried out, but didn't fight back, her gun falling to the floor with a clank.

"Sorry..." she muttered, her wrist still firmly in Tony's grip, "I'm so sorry..."

* * *

To be continued...


	12. Chapter 12

Back in the briefing room, Steve and Tony were seated at the table while Sarah stared out the window at the ground and clouds below.

Fury walked in and sighed, "Agent Coulson had these in his jacket pocket...guess he never did get you to sign them..."

Steve watched as the ex-spy tossed Phil's blood stained Captain America cards onto the table, the blood smearing across the glass.

"Fury...what were you thinking? Bringing a group of misfits like us together? What in the HELL made you think it would work," Sarah snapped, not looking away from the window.

"There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could. Its called the Avengers Initiative. That was you guys. I guess it was just a bit too old fashioned to work," Nick explained before taking Phil's cards and leaving the room.

Once Fury left, Tony groaned in frustration and rubbed his forehead, "He was an idiot."

"He was doing his job!" Steve snapped out of frustration.

Sarah turned to the two men and scoffed, "His job? His job got him killed."

"For taking Loki alone, he was out of his league," Tony explained standing up and getting ready to leave.

Steve stood up as well before looking Tony in the eye, "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier"

"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! I am not marching to Fury's fife!"

"For once Tony is right! What business do we have to be laying our lives on the line like we're some G.I. Joe's ready to die at the snap of a finger!" Sarah snapped crossing her arms and staring Steve down.

"It's our business to protect the innocent! As for Fury, neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done."

After a moment of silence, Tony turned to the other two and clapped his hands together, "I know what he's thinking."

"And that is?" Sarah asked tilting her head slightly as she walked over.

"He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."Steve nodded and sighed, "I caught his act in Berlin."

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered.."

Sarah nodded before seeming to reach the same conclusion that Tony reached.

"Sonnafabitch," they said simultaneously before both rushing for the hanger.

* * *

Tony went straight to his suit, while Sarah walked over to her own.

Thankfully, it wasn't lost when the Hulk went on a rampage.

"Tony," Sarah said as her suit opened up.

"What's up sis?"

"I know this seems pretty harsh but...if anything happens," the younger Stark said stepping into her armor and watching it closed around her, "Take care of Christie for me."

"Shut up," Tony said walking over in his suit as well, "Both Bruce and I talked, nothing is happening to you or the kid. Besides, wouldn't want to be the only genius Stark left alive."

Sarah shifted in her armor a bit before chuckling a bit, "So FINALLY, you accept me as your equal."

The siblings both fist bumped before taking off out of the gaping hole left by Thor and the Hulk's fight.

* * *

To Be Continued


End file.
